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Amstel Gold Race 2025 preview: Route, favourites, how to watch and start lists
The cobbled Classics are done, the Ardennes are to come, and the riders are parched: it’s Amstel Gold Race for both men and women on Sunday 20th April. Named in honour of its beer company sponsor Amstel, its winners are rewarded a glass (sometimes massive, sometimes small) of Amstel to celebrate.
Taking riders through the Dutch Limburg region, with riders heading out from Maastricht and circling to the nearby Valkenburg, Amstel Gold seeks out the Netherlands’ biggest climbs to get the riders in the mood for the hilly Belgian races to come at La Flèche Wallonne and Liège-Bastogne-Liège with the headline hill being the Cauberg — a deceiving 1.2km climb at an average gradient of 5.8%.
The tough profile offers the perfect battleground for both the peloton’s best climbers and Classics riders as they gear up for the Ardennes tests in the weeks to come. With that in mind, last year’s winner Tom Pidcock will return to the race, this time in Q36.5 colours. Excitingly, we will also get the chance to see Tadej Pogačar and Remco Evenepoel clash for the first time in 2025. On the women’s side, Marianne Vos, the defending champion, will be on the start line alongside a field of stiff opposition including Demi Vollering and Elisa Longo Borghini.
Amstel Gold Race 2025 key information
- Date: Sunday 20th April
- Start: Maastricht, Netherlands
- Finish: Valkenburg, Netherlands
- Distance: 255.9km (men’s); 157.4km (women’s)
- Live TV coverage: TNT Sports 2, Discovery+, FloBikes, SBS
- Previous winners: Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers); Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike)
- Most wins: Jan Raas (five); Marianne Vos (two)
Amstel Gold Race 2025 routes
Women’s parcours
The women’s race is largely unchanged for 2025. The finishing loop will be tackled on three occasions, taking the peloton up Amstel Gold favourites such as the Cauberg, Bemmelerberg and Geulhemmerberg. The approach to the line will be familiar with the final climb of the Cauberg, coming at 1.8km to go.
That brings the total climbing to 1,700m.
Men’s parcours
The men’s spaghetti-style route remains unchanged from the course tackled last year. Over four laps, the peloton will enjoy a feast of characteristically short kickers. After eight years of avoiding the Cauberg finish, the iconic climb returns to the finale of Amstel Gold, serving as the final climb of the day. From there, it’s the old-school run-in to the line.
Factoring all this in, the race is 256km long in total with 3,100m of climbing.
Amstel Gold Race 2025 favourites
The men’s and women’s races boast exceptional start lists in 2025, especially the women’s race, which will see all of the Tour de France Femmes contenders side-by-side on Sunday for the first time since Strade Bianche.
Tadej Pogačar will be the out-and-out favourite for the men’s race. He destroyed the field in 2023 and he’s returning to the Dutch hills with an even better streak of form behind him this time around. Perhaps Paris-Roubaix blew the wind out of his sail, but he’s much stronger than his competitors on a lumpy profile like this. Remco Evenepoel might be the only rider able to follow a Pogačar move. The Belgian is making his return to racing after a long list of injuries sustained in the winter. He’s never raced Amstel Gold, but the hills on offer could provide a springboard for a signature solo move.
As for the women, it’s much more open. We have four main contenders: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot, Lotte Kopecky, Demi Vollering and Elisa Longo Borghini. All are strong enough to pull this off, and all four have major wins behind them so far in 2025. With such a stellar start list, it’ll be a real war of attrition out on the Limburg roads.
Cyclist’s ratings: Men’s race
- ★★★★★: Tadej Pogačar (UAE Team Emirates XRG)
- ★★★★: Remco Evenepoel (Soudal-QuickStep), Tom Pidcock (Ineos Grenadiers)
- ★★★: Wout van Aert (Visma-Lease a Bike), Ben Healy (EF Education-EasyPost), Romain Grégoire (Groupama-FDJ)
- ★★: Tiesj Benoot (Visma-Lease a Bike), Neilson Powless (EF Education-EasyPost), Thibau Nys (Lidl-Trek), Maxim Van Gils (Red Bull-Bora-Hansgrohe)
- ★: Marc Hirschi (Tudor Pro Cycling), Clément Champoussin (XDS-Astana), Maximilian Schachmann (Soudal-QuickStep), Mauro Schmid (Jayco-AlUla), Dorian Godon (Decathlon-AG2R La Mondiale), Axel Laurance (Ineos Grenadiers), Kévin Vauquelin (Arkéa-B&B Hotels)
Cyclist’s ratings: Women’s race
- ★★★★★: Pauline Ferrand-Prévot (Visma-Lease a Bike), Demi Vollering (FDJ-Suez), Lotte Kopecky (SD Worx-ProTime)
- ★★★★: Marianne Vos (Visma-Lease a Bike), Anna van der Breggen (SD Worx-Protime), Elisa Longo Borghini (UAE Team ADQ)
- ★★★: Kasia Niewiadoma (Canyon-SRAM-Zondacrypto), Elisa Balsamo (Lidl-Trek), Liane Lippert (Movistar), Lorena Wiebes (SD Worx-Protime)
- ★★: Noemi Rüegg (EF Education-Oatly), Puck Pieterse (Fenix-Deceuninck), Kim Le Court (AG Insurance-Soudal)
- ★: Letizia Paternoster (Jayco-AlUla), Karlijn Swinkels (UAE Team ADQ), Cédrine Kerbaol (EF Education-Oatly), Juliette Labous (FDJ-Suez), Ingvild Gåskjenn (Uno X Mobility)
Amstel Gold Race 2025: How to watch on TV and streaming
The 2025 Amstel Gold races will be available to watch in the UK on TNT Sports 2 and Discovery+ from 12:00 on Sunday 20th April. The women’s race comes first, with the broadcast expected to finish at 13:30. The men’s event will be broadcast straight after on TNT Sports 2 and Discovery until 16:30.
Over in the USA and Canada, the racing will be available on FloBikes from 7:00 EST, with FloBikes holding the rights to the men’s and women’s contests. In Australia, both races will be broadcast on SBS On Demand from 21:00 AET. As for Europe, coverage will be aired on Eurosport and Discovery+/Max depending on which country you’re tuning in from.
If the race isn’t being broadcast in your country or you are travelling abroad, a VPN will allow you to hide your device’s location to access content that is normally geo-blocked. One such VPN provider is ExpressVPN, which is well reviewed, helps users to find free to watch cycling, and costs start from around £5 per month.
- Read more: How to watch cycling for less in the UK
- Read more: Which countries can watch cycling for free in 2025?
Live UK TV and streaming times
TV schedule below in UK summer time and subject to change by the broadcasters.
Women’s Amstel Gold Race 2025
Discovery+: 12:00-13:30
TNT Sports 2: 12:00-13:30
Men’s Amstel Gold Race 2025
Discovery+: 13:25-16:25
TNT Sports 2: 13:30-16:30
Amstel Gold Race teams and line-ups
Women’s start list
Data powered by FirstCycling.com
Men’s start list
Data powered by FirstCycling.com
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